MADURAI: The Madurai corporation council meeting on Tuesday witnessed stormy proceedings as councillors and TVK MLAs sparred over Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar’s recent remarks over the alleged property tax scam.
DMK leader and Ward 58 councillor M Jeyaram said the alleged scam had been projected as worth Rs 200 crore, but the corporation had informed the Madras High Court that there was irregularity of around Rs 1.5 crore, of which nearly Rs 80 lakh had already been recovered.
Further, several DMK councillors condemned Nirmal Kumar, who had allegedly branded the entire council as corrupt. They urged the Corporation to initiate legal action against the minister if his allegations were found to be baseless.
Also, DMK councillors challenged Minister Nirmal Kumar to disclose his assets, stating all 65 DMK councillors were ready to make their asset details public. Rejecting allegations of a Rs 200-crore scam, they maintained that official reports placed the irregularities at around Rs 1.8 crore and accused the minister of diverting attention from civic issues, including recurring fires at the Vellakkal dump yard.
AIADMK floor leader Solai M Raja questioned the progress of the investigation, alleging that while 23 people had been arrested, only eight had been included in the chargesheet. He sought a detailed inquiry into the role of assessment officials.
Mayor (in-charge) T Nagarajan said reports relating to the alleged scam were yet to be placed before the court and that the chargesheet would be filed shortly.
During the meeting, Madurai Central MLA Madhar Badhurudeen welcomed the filing of the chargesheet and sought stringent action against those involved. He also urged the Corporation to allocate additional funds for monsoon preparedness. Madurai East MLA S Karthikeyan alleged irregularities in building plan approvals and property tax assessments and warned that he would move the court if payments for allegedly irregular road works were released.
The meeting also witnessed renewed demands to cancel Ourland’s solid waste management contract and discussions on monsoon preparedness, desilting works, ward development funds, drinking water supply, sewage management, sanitation, and streetlights.
The mayor announced that the ward development fund would be enhanced to Rs 25 lakh. He also said desilting of eight major canals at a cost of Rs 81.24 lakh and plantation of two lakh saplings along the Vaigai river would be taken up.